Palestinians slam 'provocative' Brazil embassy move to Jerusalem

Israeli and Brazilian flags fly outside the Brazilian embassy in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on October 28, 2018AFP/File

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Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP)

A senior Palestinian official on Friday condemned Brazilian far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro's announcement that he would move his country's Israel embassy to Jerusalem.

"These are provocative and illegal steps that will only destabilise security and stability in the region," Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee, told AFP.

The United States moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May, sparking fury among Palestinians, who consider the Israeli-annexed eastern part of the city the capital of their future state.

"It is very unfortunate that Brazil has joined this negative alliance against international law," Ashrawi said.

On Thursday Bolsonaro tweeted that "as previously stated during our campaign, we intend to transfer the Brazilian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem."

"Israel is a sovereign state and we shall duly respect that," he said.